One Month Later-February 14th Valentine's Day

"Good morning, beautiful." Berkeley whispered in Ryo's ear as he gently shook him awake. "Today's a special day." Ryo groaned and pulled the covers over his head.

"It's 9 in the morning and it's my day off. Leave me alone. I need more sleep." Berkeley just smiled and shook his head as he kicked his shoes off and crawled under the covers. The last month had been very eventful for the new couple. Berkeley had persuaded Ryo to move into his house, after two weeks of incessant begging of course. Bikky and Carol had rooms of their own and naturally Ryo had a room to himself as well, though he rarely used it anymore.

Berkeley had changed so much in the past six months it was unreal. Granted, he was still a by-the-book egotistical bastard when he wanted to be, but the coldness about him was gone. He actually smiled now. In fact, he smiled quite a bit, particularly when Ryo busily rushed by the open door of his office.

"You realize that since you're in my bed I get to decide whether you sleep or not." Ryo pulled the covers off his face and glared evilly at the man beside him. Berkeley bit his lip, desperately trying not to laugh at the sight. Ryo's hair was an absolute disaster and his eyes were barely open as it was, adding to his comical attempt at a glare.

"You know better than to wake me up this early when I have nothing to do." Ryo muttered crankily. "If I wasn't so tired, you would be in so much trouble." Berkeley grinned roguishly.

"Oo. Could be fun." Ryo swatted at him but he ducked and wrapped his arms around him, pulling the sleepy blonde close. "Go back to sleep, love. We've got a little time to kill before lunch." Ryo wasn't even listening. He was sound asleep already with a happy smile plastered on his face.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Ryo!" Berkeley almost yelled from the doorway. "Up! Now! We're already late!" Ryo groaned and tried to curl back under the covers but Berkeley ripped them away. "Not this time. Now get your cute little ass out of bed this instant. Its past noon and we're supposed to be at the restaurant in ten minutes."

That got Ryo's attention. That and the fact that he was only in his boxers and the room was freezing cold. He jumped out of bed and ran to the closet. He grabbed a pair of pants off the hanger and pulled them on as fast as he could. Berkeley handed him a shirt and helped him with his tie. They were in the car and on their way in less than five minutes.

"Sorry we're late guys." Ryo muttered as they sat down in the booth with Drake and JJ. "I kind of overslept." The latter gave him an 'Uh huh. Sure you did.' look but let it slide. They had actually been a few minutes late themselves so they really didn't want to push the matter that much.

Lunch was quick and simple. Both couples had other plans for the rest of the day so the chit chat was minimal. In fact, the only interesting thing that happened was JJ getting stabbed with a fork for trying to steal Drake's salad.

Ryo was strangely quite as they left. Something was bugging him about that morning but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice they were home until Berkeley opened the car door for him.

"Are you ok, Ryo?" he asked with a look of genuine concern. "You look like something's bothering you and you've been awfully quiet." Ryo just shook his head and got out of the car. Berkeley couldn't remember the last time he had seen Ryo so out of touch with reality and it was beginning to worry him. He followed the shorter man inside and closed the door behind them.

"I need a nap." Ryo muttered as he loosened his tie. "Wake me up in an hour or two." He started to walk towards his room but Berkeley caught him by the arm and pulled him close.

"Something's bothering you and I want to know what it is."

"Nothing's bothering me. I'm just tired."

"Bullshit."

"Stop acting like you give a damn!" Ryo suddenly yelled as he wrenched away. Berkeley just stared at him, very shocked and a little hurt. "Stop acting like I'm the only thing that matters. Stop trying to impress me. And most of all, stop making me fall in love with you!" Tears threatened to spill down his cheeks but he stubbornly held them back. "I don't want to fall for you. I don't want to fall for anyone ever again. Every time I find something special, I always end up losing it and I can't bear to lose everything again." He couldn't hold them back any longer and the hot tears trickled in tiny rivulets down his face.

"Come here." Berkeley said gently as he grasped Ryo's shaking hands in his. "I don't want you to feel obligated to stay with me. It's your choice and always has been. I just want you to be happy. But no matter what happens, I will always be here for you. I promise."

"Stop it! Just stop it!" He jerked away again. "Don't promise me anything. He promised he'd never leave me but he did. He left me all alone and lost with nowhere to turn. I can't go through that again." He turned and ran to his room, slamming the door behind him. Berkeley sighed and slumped on the couch. This was definitely not how he had wanted the day to go. It hurt that Ryo compared him to Dee, but it wasn't what bothered him the most. What Ryo had said before made him wonder what was going through the half-Asian's mind. Making him fall in love with me? I wonder what he means by that…besides the obvious. God, why can't I figure him out? It would make life so much easier. I can't tell what he wants and he won't tell me straight up…so much for a simple romance. He almost wanted to laugh at the thought but shook his head instead.

A few muttered obscenities and he got up off the couch. I don't really want to leave him here alone but we could both use the space. I need some time to think and I really don't think he wants to talk right now, as if he didn't make that clear enough already. I guess I'll just go for a little walk. He grabbed a light jacket from the hall closet and headed for the door, hoping he could figure out a way to make up for whatever he had done wrong. Most of all, he prayed he hadn't lost his only chance to show Ryo how much he really meant to him.

Yeah, yeah. I know. I said 9 chapters but it's going to be 10. So sorry guys. And I do believe I've forced Ryo to become bi-polar. O.o EEK! Anyhoo, I promise the next chapter will be the final chapter and yes, I'm going to start the sequel. I can't promise it will be out any time soon though. Working full time at 2 different jobs cuts into my writing time. Well, I better get back to writing that last chapter. R&R always appreciated.